Away (18 page)

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, nodding his head.

“So are we all going out tonight or what?” Moose asked, twirling his dirty rag around in his hand.

“That’s up to Cassie,” Jason said, glancing in my direction.

“I guess that depends on where “out” is,” I said.

“It’s just a bar,” Moose piped up.

I wasn’t familiar with much when it came to babies, but I did know that was bad, so no drinking was going to happen for me tonight. “It sounds like it could be fun.”

“Could be? Cassandra, it’s not a question. It’s definitely a great time,” Moose said, tossing his rag over his shoulder.

“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” Jason assured me.

“No, we can. It’ll be fun,” I answered.

“See, there’s the spirit,” Moose said. “Not to mention, we go at least once a week. It’s kind of a thing in this town.”

“I wouldn’t want to break tradition,” I said.

“Alright Moose, we’ll see you tonight buddy.” Jason waved as we left the garage with my horrible excuse for a car in it.

I was relieved that it wasn’t ready yet, but also in a state of shock for how truly bad it did look. I also couldn’t help but cringe at the thought of what my father would think if he saw my car in its present condition. Just the image of him in my mind caused shivers to run down my spine, and not the kind Jason gave me. That was not a conversation I was even remotely ready to have with him. I would get the car fixed and aside from a large bill that I was going to have to pay off, he would never know. That was the plan, and I was going to stick to it.

“You’re awfully quiet over there. What are you thinking about?” Jason asked as we pulled back up to the house.

“Nothing. I’m just not looking forward to having to tell my father about my car.”

“Tonight will be good for you then. You look like you could use a night out,” he said as he opened his door.

Yeah it would be good for me, I hoped.

I
STEPPED
OUT
OF
MY
ROOM
wearing my new boots, of course, and a little strapless black dress with a belt that had gold on it to match the studs on my boots. It was nothing I would normally wear all together, but it was perfect for tonight as these boots were starting to become my new favorite wardrobe item.

“Oh Sweetie.” Trish said from behind me. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” I said as I looked back down at my dress and boots.

“Where are you guys going tonight?”

I cocked my head up trying to think of the name, but I never got one. “A bar, but I don’t know the name,” I shrugged.

“Oh, you must be going to Dog Gone,” she said, nodding her head.

I lifted my brow at her. “I’m sorry, where?”

“The Dog Gone bar. You’ll have fun,” she said.

She put her hand on my shoulder as we made our way to the family room. “I hope so,” I said.

“Wow.” I heard him saying as I came around the corner. “You look g-gorgeous.” His voice caught as he tried to get the last word out.

His eyes traveled from my boots up to my hair that I left down and wavy with the help of Trish’s blow dryer.

“It’s not too much?” I asked, hoping not to be over dressed to a place with the word ‘dog’ in it.

He cleared his throat as he continued to look me over. “Definitely not.”

“You look pretty nice too,” I said, doing a once over on him. This must have been his cleaned up look and I was glad I got to see it. He wore a pair of dark, tight jeans with a different pair of black cowboy boots; I had yet to see them on him until tonight. He completed his outfit with a dark V-neck tee and a matching cowboy hat.

“I
really
like the hat Jase,” I told him.

He flashed me a wink.

“Let’s get this show on the road,” he said as we walked to the door. “Night mom,” he said to Trish as he gave her a kiss on the cheek before closing the door behind us.

“So, you failed to mention the name of the bar to me. Dog Gone?”

“Catchy huh?”

“Yeah, if I’m an animal, which I’m not,” I said sarcastically.

We arrived quickly as always, I couldn’t help but chuckle a little. Getting around town was too easy, I could seriously get used to it.

“Uh, this looks more like a barn than a bar,” I stated as we walked up to the doors.

“The only barn in town Sweetheart.” He placed his hand in the middle of my back as we made our way in. A shiver ran down my spine, enjoying the feel of his hand there too much. I took in a deep breath as we walked through the double doors and decided to try and let my guard down a little. I was going to find out if that was even possible.

The place was already busy. The dance floor looked packed and the tables around the bar were completely full. There were people I had recognized from around town along with many others that I had yet to meet. Moose and the girl Kasey from dinner were waving to us at the bar as we headed that direction.

“I know I already told you, but I have to say it again, you look incredible tonight,” Jason said quietly behind me as he kept his hand on my lower back leading us over to the bar. My pulse was now completely racing.

Moose and Jason immediately gave each other a slap on the back as we walked up to the few open seats left. “Wow, Cassie, you clean up nice,” Moose said teasing.

“You too. The little bit of grease on your left cheek really completes the look,” I told him.

We started laughing as we watched him trying to figure out where the grease was until he realized I was joking.

“You are a cruel woman, you know that?” he said as he came up behind me squeezing my shoulders.

“You remember Kasey right?” Jason asked as she came walking up to my other side.

“Of course I do, it’s nice to see you again,” I said.

“Hey Cassandra,” Kasey said as she extended her hand for me to take.

She looked just as cute as she did at dinner. Her short hair had a few curls in it, her long legs covered in a nice pair of jeans, and then something completely caught my eyes.

“Oh I love your cowgirl boots,” I told her. They were lipstick red and gorgeous.

“Thanks,” she said as she turned her feet in either direction showing them off. I was certain I would need a pair.

“I think I may have started something bad,” Jason said.

“You have no idea,” I said, still eyeing the boots.

“Come with me, Cassandra. We’ll get some drinks. The bartender hasn’t left that end in a while,” Kasey said as she pulled my arm toward her.

I looked over at Jason as I walked away with Kasey as she all but dragged me away.

“What are you having?” she asked as we took over two empty seats at the end. The bar curved so it was easy to see everyone; Jason and Moose were sitting in the seats we originally had, looking as though they were deep in conversation.

“Water with lemon, please,” I told her, getting a shocked expression on her face in return.

“I’m just really parched,” I said as she shrugged in acceptance.

“One water and a beer please,” she yelled to the bartender over the music blaring through the speakers.

We got our drinks and continued to stay where we were. She was friendly enough and some girl time might do me some good, since I was more than missing Mel.

“So you like him don’t you?” she bluntly asked, my water almost spraying out my lips.

I swallowed my water and turned my gaze to the glass of clear contents that I wished was actually liquid courage. “Kasey, I’m not quite sure I’m his type. My life is too complex for him,” I told her honestly. I knew I deserved a good guy when the time was right but this guy deserved someone who didn’t come with baggage and whose life wasn’t in disarray.

“Well, the way he is looking at you right now tells me that he definitely would disagree with everything you just said.”

I looked up at her and saw the knowing grin she had on her face. I twisted my neck to see what she was looking at and sure enough, Jason had his eyes fixated on me with a sultry expression. He didn’t even bother to turn his head the minute I looked at him. He flashed a wink at me, causing my cheeks to warm up quickly. I turned back to face Kasey.

“See what I mean,” she said.

I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of him staring at me. “I guess so.”

“Oh Cassandra, I’ve known Jason for a long time. We grew up together: him, Moose, and me. And I’ve never seen him this smitten before.”

My cheeks were now on fire as her words seeped through me.

“He’s been through a lot, but I can tell a nice girl when I see one, and you, Cassandra, seem really sweet,” she said.

“He’s the sweet one. I can’t figure how on earth he’s still single?” I asked her.

“Like I said, he’s been through a lot. Then there was a girl, but she was bad news. I think that really jacked him up, kind of shut him down on the girl front anyway.”

Before I could reply, Moose walked up between us. “Sorry, I promised this one a dance, go keep Jason company,” he told me. He took off with Kasey to the dance floor and nudged his head in Jason’s direction. I could take a hint.

“Hey, there. This seat taken?” I asked before I sat down.

“For a girl like you? It’s never taken,” he said, flashing me a grin.

I loved his grins, his sweet ones, his cocky ones, and most of all, his sexy ones. Yet, looking at him right now, I could sense there was something hiding behind his gorgeous green eyes of his that was plaguing him. I wanted to help him, I wanted to tell him whatever was haunting him he could tell me, he could confide in me, but how could I tell him that when I couldn’t even come clean about the demons I kept hidden away? I started biting the inside of my cheek, feeling like such a hypocrite.

“What are you thinking about over there, Cassie?” he asked, breaking my thoughts. I swiveled my stool to face him. He had his elbow leaning on the bar, resting his head against his hand.

“Nothing,” I said, I didn’t have the courage to battle him.

“I can tell you’re lying,” he said. I took in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly trying to ease the drumming in my chest.

“Fine, you seem sad Jase,” I told him. His gaze immediately shifted down to the floor as he fidgeted with his drink, which looked like water too. “You can talk to me,” I offered. I put my hand on his knee, trying to get him to look at me, but he didn’t.

I moved my hand and grabbed my water, taking a long sip when he finally looked up at me. He didn’t have to say anything; his eyes said it all. They were warm and even though they still were sad; I could see through them, he was glad about something. I wasn’t sure what, but I was hoping he was about to tell me. He put his glass on the counter and jumped off his bar stool. I could feel his breath behind my ear as he spoke softly.

“You can talk to me too you know,” he whispered, making a shiver run from my neck to my toes.

It wasn’t what I wanted to hear. I longed to hear him divulge his deepest secrets to me so I could help try and take the pain away, but that wasn’t going to happen tonight. He pushed my water back and took my hand in his, then swiveled my stool so I was facing him.

“Let’s dance pretty girl,” he said.

I was thankful to change the subject. As much as I was not in the mood to talk about myself, clearly he wasn’t either. I was also ecstatic to have someone ask me to dance. The only other time I was asked to dance was at my high school prom, and that was with some cheese ball jock that didn’t dance with me. Instead, he hit on every other girl at prom while he was there with me. Something inside told me that this would be much different, that Jase actually knew how to dance and treat a lady. The only problem? Honky-tonk wasn’t really my strong suit, let alone my suit at all. My breathing suddenly turned heavy as I stayed still on the stool that Jase was trying to pull me off of.

“There’s a slight problem,” I said quietly. He moved in closer to me putting his hands on my knees as he leaned his ear by my mouth. “I don’t know how to dance country,” I confessed.

He moved his ear away from my mouth and started laughing, his loud contagious laugh was rumbling through his body. I put my hand over his mouth to try and stop the rest of the bar from hearing and looking over at us.

“Stop it, this is serious,” I told him. He stopped and took my hand off of his lips.

“I’ll lead, you just follow. You’ll be okay. Just go with it, Cassie,” he said, pulling me off of the stool, like a parent helping a toddler off of a chair.

I guess this meant we were going.

He walked us out to the dance floor where Moose and Kasey were already getting their country on. The music running through the speakers changed immediately from drums and guitars to a sweet soft melody. Jason grabbed my right hand with his left. My eyes stared at them, admiring how perfectly they fit together. His other hand touched the side of my cheek, gently pushing it to face him. Our eyes intently locked together, and like I was a doll and had no control over my own body, he moved my other hand and put it around his upper back. He placed his hand around my lower back and pushed us closer, body to body.

“Don’t be scared, just like we practiced in the street.” He looked at me. His eyes glistened as the spotlights above us hit them just perfectly, showing their true emerald color.